Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the flush transfer of large-surface-area panels of different types of construction, such as, for example, glass panels, wood fiber panels or plasterboard panels, onto a transporting vehicle.
Description of the Prior Art
Such large-surface-area panels are required above all in the construction of conventional single-family homes and apartment blocks in the form of panels for interior work, in the construction of prefabricated houses in the form of the most varied pre-fabricated structural panels or for developing facades in the form of the most varied types of glass panels.
Thus, for example, DE 601 23 604 T2 makes known a prefabricated house which consists of specially developed wall panels, a plurality of safety members and specifically realized roofing panels.
The production of large-surface-area glass panels, in contrast, is effected in the form of float glass as a result of continuously pouring molten glass on a tin bath which is heated in an elongated trough and of the resultant glass ribbon. The subsequent preparation of the float glass occurs as a result of longitudinal cutting and cross cutting of the glass ribbon which emerges from the float glass production at a certain forward feed speed. In this connection, longitudinal cutting wheels which are installed in a stationary manner in the corresponding position above the glass ribbon bring about the longitudinal cutting and the cross cutting is effected by means of cutting bridges and cross cutting wheels which are moved transversely thereto over the glass ribbon.
Glass panels of considerable size can be produced in this way. A size of 6 meters by 3.21 meters is designated in this respect as a so-called ribbon measure or large format. A panel size of 3.21 meters by 2 meters (up to 2.5 meters) is designated as a so-called split ribbon size or medium format.
In order to transport glass panels of such a size from one site to another in a fracture-free manner, holding mechanisms, in the majority of cases in the form of a sturdy frame, are moved toward the relevant glass panel for this purpose, connected thereto by means of suction cups, and then the holding mechanism with the glass panel suctioned thereto is conveyed further.
DE 197 12 368 A1 from the prior art makes known a method for shifting objects from a first position to a second position using a holding mechanism which binds the object to itself during the shifting procedure, where the object to be achieved is to develop said method further in such a manner that objects are able to be securely shifted under all circumstances in a simple manner. In this case, glass panels are named as the objects to be shifted.
The solution of said object, according to the specifications identified in claim 1, is characterized in that the approaching of the lifting mechanism to the object to be shifted to the first or the second position is effected with consideration to the actual position and/or alignment of the same, the holding mechanism being aligned, where required, by utilizing a free rotatability and/or pivotability of the same about one or several axes.
In apparatus claim 7 as further claimed, it is explained in more detail that the object to be shifted is a glass panel, that the first position is an internal loader rack and that the second position is a conveyor belt and the holding mechanism is a suction frame.
DE 101 48 038 A1 describes a device for transferring panels from a panel conveyor to a stacking rack or the like, having a robot with a robot arm which bears on its free end a suction frame or the like for receiving a panel from the panel conveyor, and which is developed with a number of degrees of freedom that is adequate for its movement function.
The object underlying the further development of such a device is to realize a device for transferring the panels from a panel conveyor to a stacking rack such that, in the event of a glass panel, there is as little impairment as possible of the air side of the glass.
Said object is achieved in that the panel conveyor is provided with a recess, into which the robot arm is able to enter, and with recesses which also enable the suction frame or the like to enter. In addition, the suction frame or the like is to be arranged on the free end of the robot arm so as to be pivotable into an upwardly pointing position in order to grip a panel on its side that faces the panel conveyor from the position entering into the recesses of the panel conveyor.
The stacking rack used here is fastened immovably on the floor, consequently it can only be loaded from the side that faces the robot arm. In addition, the stacking rack, each time it is loaded with a further glass panel, has to be moved away from the robot arm by the small distance of the thickness of a glass panel as the distance from the robot arm is a fixed variable. To this end, in practice in the case of the current prior art, so-called carriages are necessary which move the stacking rack away from the robot arm by the distance of a glass panel thickness in each case prior to loading with a new glass panel in order to make space for a further glass panel. In addition, a turntable is necessary for loading the stacking rack from the other side. To load the stacking rack with large and heavy glass panels, the carriages required and the turntable necessary in conformity with the load occurring are constructed in a time-consuming and labor-consuming manner and are very expensive to produce.